The Texas Supreme Court upheld on Friday the state's ban on gender-affirming care for minors, different outlets reported.
In an 8-1 ruling, the all-Republican court rejected pleas from parents saying it violates their right to seek medical care for their transgender children. The law has been in effect since September of last year, with Texas being the largest of at least 25 states which have adopted similar laws.
Concretely, the law prevents transgender minors from accessing hormone therapies, puberty blockers and transition surgeries. Those who have already started such processes had to be "weaned off in a medically appropriate" manner.
"We conclude the Legislature made a permissible, rational policy choice to limit the types of available medical procedures for children, particularly in light of the relative nascency of both gender dysphoria and its various modes of treatment and the Legislature's express constitutional authority to regulate the practice of medicine," reads a passage of the ruling.
A lower court in the state deemed the law unconstitutional, but it was allowed to go into effect while the Supreme Court considered the case.
The Biden administration has filed lawsuits against several of those states, and the U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to hear an appeal from its attempt to block the state bans. That case in particular challenges a Tennessee law restricting puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender minors.
Local organizations challenged the Texas law, with one suit saying it has devastating consequences for transgender teens who are not able to get critical treatment recommended by physicians and approved by parents.
There have not been unanimous interpretations of the issue throughout the country. Earlier this month, a federal judge struck down a similar Florida law, which also restricted gender-affirming care for adults.
Concretely, judge Robert Hinkle said the statute is unconstitutional as it went too far when barring transgender minors from being prescribed such a treatment with their parents' permission.
He also took down a ban on online treatment for transgender adults and an order for them to only get treatment from doctors, adding they are entitled to legitimate treatment and criticizing those who oppose it.
"Some transgender opponents invoke religion to support their position, just as some once invoked religion to support their racism or misogyny," Hinkle said. "Transgender opponents are of course free to hold their beliefs. But they are not free to discriminate against transgender individuals just for being transgender."
Hinkle went on to say that "in time, discrimination against transgender individuals will diminish, just as racism and misogyny have diminished." However, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis heavily criticized the decision and vowed to appeal it.
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